Crossing, or on, the threshold of transformative learning: Chinese engineering PGT students’ experiences of active learning at a UK university

Active Learning (AL) has been widely recognised as an effective pedagogical approach that fosters engagement, critical thinking, and collaboration (Freeman et al., 2014; Mintzes and Walter, 2020). However, while extensive research has examined Chinese international students’ experiences, little attention has been paid to Chinese engineering postgraduate taught (PGT) students and their learning in AL environments in UK HE. This qualitative study addressed this gap by examining how Chinese engineering PGT students navigated cultural, educational, epistemic, and emotional adaptation processes in AL environments, and how these experiences may lead to reflective or transformative learning. The research drew on Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) as its analytical framework for interpreting students’ AL experiences. Data were collected from four engineering programmes through focus groups with 20 Chinese students and interviews with seven instructors at a UK university. Thematic analysis was conducted, applying triangulation of student and instructor perspectives to ensure a holistic understanding of both convergent and divergent dimensions of students’ learning experiences. Findings indicated that students’ engagement with the AL was influenced by prior cultural and educational backgrounds, leading to disorienting dilemmas. Student participants relied on co-national peer networks as adaptive approaches. While most students demonstrated instrumental learning and engaged primarily in content or process reflection, only a few exhibited premise reflection indicative of emerging perspective transformation. Their capacity for deeper reflection and meaning perspective transformation was further constrained by factors such as compressed course structure, language barriers, and limited cognitive, relational, and emotional scaffolding within the AL contexts. The study proposed an empirically grounded concept of Transitional and Adaptive Meaning Perspectives (TAMP), extending Mezirow’s TLT framework to account for the liminal phase between instrumental adaptation and full perspective transformation. It offered practical implications for universities, educators, and learners, emphasising the importance of culturally responsive induction, enhanced learning scaffolding, and relational pedagogies to better support Chinese international students’ potential for transformative learning.